Search Communities

You can not post a blank message. Please type your message and try again.

My iMac G5 crapped out and when I ran the disc utility it resulted in "Volume Mac HD failed error -9972 Volume 1 could not be repaired" HJ diags all passed. I tried Disc Warrior but when the directoryscreen came up the Mac HD was not an option. What goes?

My iMac G5 crapped out and I ran the disc utility which resulted in "Volume Mac HD failed error -9972 Volume 1 could not be reparied" The hardware diags all passed. At the suggestion of this forum I ordered and ran DiscWarrior. But when I got to the screen that asked for which disc to have the diectory rebuilt the Mac HD did not show as an option. The DW support guys said the computer is not communicating with the drive and the drive is toast. True? Where do I go from here? I have a backup copy my my Home folder so I'm hoping if all else fails I'll at east be able to restore that on this or a new computer. Suggestions?

If you're on a PM G5, the drives are standard SATA I drives that can be bought off the shelves at any computer/electronics retailer. The replacement process is very simple, as well, and requires only a Phillips screwdriver. You will, however, need an OS (or restore) disc to reinstall Leopard. Good luck!

When I get new hard drive and reinstall system software, I will be at 10.3.9. Do you know how far I can upgrade this OS? I think I was able to upgrade before crash to 10.4.11. Can I go as high as 10.5 on this hardware config? By the way, I brought this computer to the local apple store only to have them tell me that they no longer offer support for it and do not have replacement parts. Oh the arrogance of Apple!

If your system is a June 2004 PM G5, you can definitely run 10.5.8 on it. Anything newer than that, though, will require an intel processor

Keep in mind that 10.5 has slightly higher hardware requirements than 10.4, so while the computer will be able to run it just fine, you might notice a slight "slow-down" in its general operation. Not sure how much RAM you have, but since you're going to be adding a new HD, might as well take the opportunity to max out the RAM in the process, since it's not that expensive and it could make a nice difference (here's an example of how much that would cost).

And as far as the Apple Store... yes, unfortunately that model is in the "Obsolete" list (last manufactured 7+ years ago), so they no longer support it. But the HD install process in itself is very simple and straight-forward, or you can also check out this site for any authorized Apple repair centers in your area (they can usually work on older models, specially if the part needed is a standard, off-the-shelf part). I have a few recommendations if you're in the Southern California area, but other than that, Apple's service locator site should provide you with more than enough options. Good luck!

I removed the back and took a look at the hard drive. It's a Western Digital 250 GB. This is a WD drive that I found on line. http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Western%20Digital/WD5000AAKX/http:// It is 500 GB. Will this work? The memory is already maxed at 2 GB. When I install the new drive what type of install do I do? Erase and install? My system discs are 10.3. I do want the bundled software that originally came with the system, so I thought I would install 10.3 and update to latest software and 10.3.9 and then do an upgrtade to 10.5. Sound like the way to go? I do have the latest copy of my home folder on an external drive so hopefully I can move it back to the new hard drive once I reinstall. Sorry for all this basic stuff, but I'm not that comptuer savey. Finally is it beneficial to upgrade to 10.5 or is it not all that different than 10.4?

Yes, those drives should work. And double check your memory specs, your computer should be able to go to 4GB of RAM (or 8GB if you have a dual-processor system).

Being that the new drive is blank, you'll have no choice but to do a clean install. Make sure the drive is partitioned first, or else the installation won't see an available volume onto which the OS can be installed. Are you familiar with the process in Disk Utility?

10.5 brings a few improvements over 10.4, including time machine and the ability to run newer versions of programs (like safari and other modern browsers, iTunes, etc). You can pick up a copy of 10.5 for pretty cheap on eBay.

And yes, I would recommend upgrading in steps (10.3 to 10.4 to 10.5), since skipping the Tiger step has given me issues before. Definitely install all your software before hand so that you get the iLife software and all of that once you're in 10.5.

I ordered the drive and expect to receive it next couple of days. The instructions I have on reinstall of OS is to load disc 1 and follow instructions. You mentioned about partitioning the new drive before I do anything. Will this option be available when I load disc 1 and before I start the install proceess? In other words do I look for this option on disc utility and select and do that first. Will the install disc do that automatically? Needless to say I'm a little ansy about this porocess. Also I read that one of trhe install options is "Erase and install". Is this what you refer to as a "Clean install"? I appreciate your hanging in there with me on this problem.

1. Erase and Install is only relevant when you're installing the OS on a volume that already has an OS (or just data) in it. In this case, because the drive you'll be using is blank, you don't have a choice but to do that type of install. Same as a "clean install". Which is fine, btw.

2. When you're in the initial screens of the installer, after booting to Disc 1, you'll see a menu bar on top. Click on Utilities, and Disk Utility. On the left-hand side you'll see the new drive you (will have) just installed, with no volumes underneath it. Click on the drive, click on the Erase tab, give the volume a name, and click "Erase". That will partition the drive and create a single volume in it, onto which you can install the OS. If you don't do that step, when you get to the point in the installation where you have to select where to install the OS, you won't see any available volumes.

3. You only had one hard drive in that computer, correct? Just asking so you make sure that you delete and install the OS on the right one (easiest way to avoid any mistakes is to simply disconnect the SATA/Power cable from the secondary drive).

Okay, I successfully installed the new drive, and I now have a new OS essentially with nothing on it like the day I bought it. The installation installs 10.3.7. As I told you I have my home folder backed up on a Hitachi drive that uses an application called ArcSoft to do it's thing. My undertsanding is that my home folder contains all the information such as files, desktop etc. Two things. Should I update To the lastest version of 10.3.9 or just restore the home folder. Do I do this first? The problem is I don't know how to move the backup copy of the home folder into the newly installed empty one??? I can see the files on there but I don't know how to move them over. Thanks again for all your help.

I would first run all updates on the OS. Also, which is will you be upgrading to? (Or are you stopping at 10.3?)

Once all updates have been run, you can simply copy the contents from the [HomeFolder]/Desktop folder in your backup to the corresponding in your computer, and so on. The only tricky one will be the [HomeFolder]/Library, since that one has contents that might not be needed until you install your apps. I'd leave that one for after you're done installing all your software. By the way, is your backup in some kind of compressed form, or are the files readily available?

Also, to avoid permission problems, I would create the new user in the computer with the exact same name as you had it before (i.e., the name of the home folder in your backup). While permission errors can be corrected, it'll save you a great amount of time if you don't even have to worry about it.

I finally was able to do a select all on the backup folders - desktop, docs, music etc and dragged them to the home folder on the new drive. This seemed to recover me top a certain degree but several problems. When I tried to do a software update, it says I'm totally up to date when obviously there are a ton of updates to both the OS and trhe Apps. I think I was running 10.4.11 before the crash. Also the original package that came with the system when I bought it included Appleworks which does not show up on the reinstall. This is critical to my needs since I used the Appleworks spreadsheet utillity to compile several fininacial programs which are files on the backup but are useless unless I can get AW installed. Totally confused at this point. The backup files I think are not in any compressed format. I think I used all thge same names that I used originally when I first signed on post purchase.

More Like This

Related Articles

This site contains user submitted content, comments and opinions and is for informational purposes only.
Apple may provide or recommend responses as a possible solution based on the information provided; every potential issue may involve several factors not detailed in the conversations captured in an electronic forum and Apple can therefore provide no guarantee as to the efficacy of any proposed solutions on the community forums.
Apple disclaims any and all liability for the acts, omissions and conduct of any third parties in connection with or related to your use of the site. All postings and use of the content on this site are subject to the Apple Support Communities Terms of Use.